Self Education Online Learning
Yes, 'Virtual' Charter Schools Exist-and They're Growing
Did you know that one of the fastest growing sectors of the charter school industry are virtual charter schools, where K-12 students learn from home in front of their computers? No school buildings, no recess with friends, no shared learning. It's true.
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Home-school movement leaders’ reactions

Cybercharter backers have had difficulty understanding and responding to such criticism. Ron Packard, founder and CEO of K12, a curriculum provider whose services in 2007 reached over 25,000 students through virtual schools in 16 states and the District of Columbia, has been “shocked” by opposition coming from HSLDA. 

He told CNSNews.com, “It’s really amazing to me that a group that has fought so hard for its right to home school would oppose someone else’s parents who are fighting for their right to be doing at home a great public school education.” Home-school movement leaders’ reactions do make sense, however. 

Animus toward government was what bound leftist and conservative Christian home schoolers together in the 1970s and 1980s, and it is what has brought them back together to oppose virtual charters.

The increasing diversity of home schoolers and institutional configurations should not obscure the fact that many who home school still choose this option out of frustration with or protest against formal, institution-based schooling and seek to impart an alternative, usually conservative Christian, worldview to their children by teaching them at home. Yet it is also the case that increasing numbers who opt to home school do so as an accessory, hybrid, or temporary stopgap, or out of necessity given their circumstances. 

It is this newer group of home schoolers who are challenging the historical dichotomies between public and private, school and home, formal and informal that have played such an important role in the movement’s self-definition and in American education policy. Trends toward accommodation, adaptation, and hybridization will likely increase as U.S. education policy seeks to catch up to the sweeping demographic, technological, and economic changes taking place

Among the most innovative and successful of the public-private hybrids is the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), founded in 1997 and operated by the Florida Department of Education. 

It partners with all 67 Florida school districts to bring a complete high-school curriculum moderated by certified teachers to the homes of residents across the state, many of whom live on isolated produce farms or ranches. In the 2006–07 school year, more than 52,000 students were enrolled in FLVS. By 2006, 21 other states and several local districts had begun similar programs, both to service homebound or other special-needs students and as an effort to lure home schoolers (and the tax dollars they represent) back into the public education system.

More provocative have been online schools founded by private companies that have taken advantage of charter school laws in various states to make their services available for free to home schoolers. California was an early innovator, with virtual charter schools opening shortly after the Charter Schools Act was passed in 1992. By 2001 the state had 93 cybercharters serving more than 30,000 students, which meant that over $200 million of California’s public school budget was being paid to private firms offering home-school curricula and technology. After it became clear that some of these outfits were making scandalous profits by offering minimal services, California legislators passed SB 740, which imposed strict financial guidelines on cybercharters, including a requirement that they spend at least 50 percent of public revenues on salaries and benefits to state-certified teachers. The law also set limits on pupil-teacher ratios, required more expansive record keeping, and imposed strict penalties for failing to meet these and other standards.

By 2006, 18 states had a combined total of 147 virtual charter schools educating over 65,000 students. Many cybercharters have faced growing pains similar to those seen in California. The Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (WPCCS) opened its virtual doors in the fall of 2000 as Pennsylvania’s second cybercharter and the first to offer its services across district lines. After nine months enrollment topped 1,100. Many school districts, frustrated that they now had to pay an outside organization to educate students in their own districts, 

K-12 Online Public School from Home | Connections Academy
Connections Academy is an accredited, online education program that offers students in online public schools everything they need to reach their potential.
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Digital Learning Now
Digital Learning Now is a national initiative of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), founded by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, with the goal of advancing state policies that create a high-quality digital learning environment to better equip all students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in this 21st-century economy.
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What's Wrong with Idaho's Online Charter Schools? Here's important information on Idaho virtual schools including Idaho Virtual Academy and Idaho Distance Education Academy.
Online and virtual charter school students in Idaho and across the nation are struggling academically. Parents should be cautious about enrolling their children in any online public school programs without first doing their homework. Idaho's programs include those offered by the Idaho Virtual Academy and Idaho Distance Education Academy.
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What You Need to Know about Virtual Charter Schools
I often receive questions, on and off the blog, about virtual charter schools. This post will summarize the key things that you need to know to be an informed consumer. Begin with the politics and money promoting virtual charter schools. Colin Woodard won the prestigious George Polk award last year for this expose of the...
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Virtual Charter Schools: Pros and Cons of the Growing Trend | PublicSchoolReview.com
Just as the internet has changed the way Americans shop, date, and stay updated with the news, it is also changing the landscape of American education. Across the country, elementary, middle, and high school students are opting out of traditional public schools in favor of attending virtual charter schools.
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